By Hana Namrouqa – Jan 17,2018 AMMAN — With rain forecast for this weekend, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Wednesday urged the public to collect rainwater off rooftops for future use during the hot season. By simply cleaning up the roofs of the buildings ahead of winter to clear dirt and pollutants, people […]

By Ana V. Ibáñez Prieto – Jan 22,2018 AMMAN — The rooftops of Karak are being turned into new agricultural spaces with “Be a Friend to the Environment”, an initiative founded by 30-year-old entrepreneur Faten Al Rahaife, which aims at creating new spaces for composting within rural communities. “We create new spaces for cultivation on […]

Saudi Arabia expects to begin eight renewable energy projects this year that could total more than 4.1 gigawatts of capacity. Solar will lead the pack with 3.3 GW, and wind projects could account for 800 megawatts, said Turki al-Shehri, head of the kingdom’s Renewable Energy Project Development Office. Winning bidders will cover the financing — […]

The share of renewables in the Middle East energy mix is forecast to triple over the next 17 years — but natural gas will remain the dominant power source in the region. That’s one of the key findings of a new report published this week by Siemens. It predicts that by 2035 the Middle East […]

Oded Eran, INSS, Gidon Bromberg and Giulia Giordano, EcoPeace Middle East January 2018 full report: http://ecopeaceme.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Water_Diplomacy.pdf Introduction: This paper reflects on the concepts of water security and water diplomacy, describes the state of water security in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories, and presents a set of recommendations to decision makers designed to advance Israeli […]

Message of Peace We put a year behind us shaped by political challenges that led many to the conclusion that peace cannot be achieved under the current conditions. Recent political developments such as the US announcement to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, have served to support this view. […]

By CLIVE LIPCHIN 01/06/2018 The Dead Sea is slowly fading away. Each year the water level recedes another meter or so and more and more sinkholes appear along the shoreline, swallowing up gas stations, restaurants, agricultural fields and beaches. This unique, one-of-kind ecosystem is disappearing, yet the government seems not to care. The reasons for […]

Without the support of the Defense Ministry, which can’t find the budget to implement the necessary solutions, the plan will very likely not be approved Zafrir Rinat Jan 14, 2018 The Defense Ministry is threatening to withdraw its support for a plan to generate electricity on the Golan Heights using wind turbines. This is because […]

‘It’s not just declarations but rather capabilities, mainly missiles, aimed at attacking the platforms,’ Israeli defense official says ■ Israel doesn’t believe Hezbollah would strike just to create a provocation Yaniv Kubovich Jan 04, 2018 Hezbollah has the capability to attack Israel’s offshore natural gas platforms, having acquired the armaments such as rockets to do […]

Israel to Restore Electricity to Gaza on Monday After Six-month Cut – Haaretz The restoration of the daily 120 megawatts of electricity is being done at the request of the Palestinian Authority, which asked for Israel’s cooperation in the context of the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas Yaniv Kubovich and Amira Hass Jan 07, […]

Turkish power barges that cover the additional demand for electricity in Lebanon are threatened of halting production if they were not provided with sufficient fuel oil, LBCI TV station said on Sunday. LBCI said the supply of Fatmagul alone has dropped from 200 megawatts (MW) to 70 MW on Sunday. While Orhan Bey will probably […]

Lebanon’s oil and gas sector file reportedly appears to be the basis for the emerging differences between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih which surfaced shortly before the year’s end under the controversial officers seniority decree, the Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah daily reported on Tuesday. The daily claimed that the crisis between the two men goes far […]

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD 01/14/2018 NGOs demand the Transportation Ministry adopt a national emergency plan to alleviate traffic congestion. A consortium of transportation NGOs organized a national “day of rage” Sunday morning to demand the Transportation Ministry adopt an emergency plan to alleviate chronic traffic jams that result in tedious commutes. At 9 a.m., drivers […]

By Hana Namrouqa – Dec 27,2017 AMMAN — Trans-boundary water cooperation on the Jordan River Basin between Jordan and Israel scored 56.67 under the Water Cooperation Quotient (WCQ) 2017 that quantifies the quality of cooperation within trans-boundary river basins on a global basis. All riparian relations that have WCQ 50 and higher have a relatively […]

Yihui Wang 2/1/2018 The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) has published a report titled, ‘Arab Environment in 10 Years,’ which synthesizes a decade worth of AFED annual reports on the state of the Arab environment. Highlighting developments across six priority areas (water, energy, air, food, green economy, and environmental scientific research), the publication […]

By Hana Namrouqa – Dec 30,2017 Authorities removed scores of violations on the King Abdullah Canal over the past week (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation) AMMAN — Authorities removed scores of violations on the King Abdullah Canal over the past week, thus ending the “daily theft” of thousands of cubic metres […]

Kinneret not in danger of drying up, expert says – YNET Winter has come, but scant precipitation raised concerns over the Kinneret’s water levels; Kinneret expert says no alarm necessary: ‘Harsher droughts have taken place before. Low water levels are not harmful and there will be no shortage of drinking water.’ Alexandra Lukash|Published: 29.12.17 , […]

By Hana Namrouqa – Dec 31,2017 The Environment Ministry has been in communication with consumer associations, shopping malls and pharmacy chains over the past year to ask them to abandon the use of regular plastic bags and turn to biodegradable plastic bags and paper bags (File photo) AMMAN — The Ministry of Environment has referred […]

By Hana Namrouqa – Dec 18,2017 AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation will float next month a tender for establishing a mega solar plant in the south of the Kingdom to power its major water projects, a senior government official said on Thursday. The studies and blueprints of the solar plant project are […]

Farah Tawfeek January 2, 2018 In an effort to boost renewable energy in Egypt and establish Egypt as a leading player in environmental development, the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy initiated a LE 5 billion project to build the largest wind farm in the Middle East, locates in the Suez Bay, funding the project […]